Category Archives: Dance

Adventure, Bard College, College, Dance, Parsons New School, School, Travel

Campus Visit : Bard College & Parsons New School

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A Journey to New York City

The objective of this visit is to gather first hand information from the two colleges to enable a final commitment to one of them.

Another exciting adventure – to visit Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) and The New School (New York City, NY)

April 20, 2018 (Friday)

Karmel will accompany Amelia to NYC.  For Amelia this will be familiar territory, for Karmel, a completely new adventure.

The Journey Begins
The Journey Begins

Meeting up in SFO for the long dreary red-eye flight to New York, New York.

April 21, 2018 (Saturday)

Arriving at JFK.   Then by Red AirTrain to Jamaica.  Walk to Jamaica Station and MTA to Penn Station.

Breakfast at Tick-Tock Diner.

Wandering around Manhattan.  Visiting the Empire State Building – views from above the city.

Empire State Bldg Lobby
Empire State Bldg Lobby

A view of the Empire State Building from their hotel room!  Wow!

Room With A View
Room With A View

April 22, 2018 (Sunday)

Start of campus tour.

[Very interesting to note the New School building is marked with the LEED logo… meaning it is recognized as an example of environmentally sustainable building design – as buildings go] ~Dad

New School Entrance
New School Entrance

The New School Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts Admitted Student Day in NYC

Parson The New School, NYC
Parson The New School, NYC

“Congratulations on your admission to The New School. You are now a member of an elite community of visionary artists, designers, and scholars ready to take on a world that doesn’t exist yet.

Throughout April 2018, we offer a variety of events for admitted students to celebrate your achievement and help connect you with our community. We hope you’ll be able to join us at one of these events, where you’ll be able to meet our admission staff, proud New School alumni, inspiring faculty, and fellow members of the incoming class.

Welcome to your future!” ~ New School at Parsons, NYC

Admitted Students Seminar

Welcome to New School
Welcome to New School

Parsons The New School Ethos

The New School Ethos
The New School Ethos

Many prominent faculty and alumnus talking about their experience at New School and their careers & passions.  Many are associated with the United Nations and prominent universities.

Visiting Chelsea Market

Meeting friends at Chelsea Market. Amelia has already made two friends in NYC.  One is a new student at New School and the other is Karmel’s childhood friend and her sister’s best friend.

Friends at Chelsea Market
Friends at Chelsea Market

There will be yet more people she’ll meet in the months to come.

April 22, 2018 (Monday)

Train from Penn Station to Rhinecliff, NY then on to  Hopson Cottage at Bard.

Views along the Hudson River

Bard College

 

Bard College

Bard College

“We very much look forward to your campus visit.

Your campus visit reservation is confirmed for Amelia Straight and 1 guest(s) on  MM/DD/YYYY at HH:MM PM.

The campus visit begins in the Admission Office at Hopson Cottage. Your tour begins with a short information session and ends with a Q&A back at Hopson Cottage. Your campus visit is usually about 2 hours.

If you are driving, please enter the following address into your GPS: 51 Ravine Road, Red Hook, NY 12571.   Free parking is available.

If you are taking Amtrak to the Rhinecliff, NY train station, there are local taxis, as well as Uber and Lyft, to take you to campus and back to the station.

Click here for directions and a campus map.

Please be in touch if you have any questions in the meantime; call 845-758-7472 or email admission@bard.edu.

Sincerely,
The Bard Admission Team”

Amelia’s Assessment

“It’s okay.  I was pretty excited going in,  Don’t really like the vibe or the people. I have to take studio art classes.  It’s required.  No one really wants to talk to me.  I think it would be too easy for me to isolate myself.  Don’t know how it works in the winter.  I don’t see any buses around campus.  It’s very artistic.  I’m pretty set on the new school.   Don’t want to have to take studio art classes. There’s almost no one here and it’s 2:30 on a Monday.  Lots of people in class I know.  Spread out on two different fields.  Mostly white kids and international students.  Very few to none American people of color.  Even in the tour I feel isolated and conspicuous.  Everyone else is from the east coast.  It’s the sort of east coast elite vibe.”

An Important Decision

“I want to commit to the new school.  I’m going to commit to the new school” ~Amelia

She’s now officially enrolled at Parsons The New School Eugene Lang College of Liberal Studies in the Global Studies program.

https://www.newschool.edu/lang/global-studies/

April 24, 2018 (Tuesday)

Heading home – objective accomplished.

College Addresses

The New School
66 West 12th Street

New York, NY 10011

Bard College
Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson
New York 12504-5000

 

Dance, Dance Performance

Sankai Juko UMUSUNA – Memories Before History

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October 11, 2015

We saw Sankai Juko once again at the Yerba Buena Center for Performing Arts.  The last time they were in the area was 5 years ago and we saw them then as part of Amelia’s birthday celebrations.  This time it’s to celebrate Dad’s birthday.

Ushio Amagatsu
Ushio Amagatsu

Once again we were treated to a profound incomprehensible mystery of the universe through the dance and movement of Sankai Juko.

Program Notes:

“UMUSUNA is a very old word originating from ancient Japan that has the same root as ubusuna (one’s place of birth).  Ubusu means birth, the beginning of  life, or entering the world.  The word umusu also embodies the concepts of everything and nothing, existence and nothingness.  Na evokes the land, the ground/soil and one’s native place.”

  1. Atokata: Imprints
  2. All that is born
  3. Memories from water
  4. In winds blown to the far distance
  5. Mirror of forests
  6. Sedimentation and erosion, ad infinitum
  7. Ubusu

Dancers: Ushio Amagatsu, Seminaru, Sho Takeuchi, Akihito Ichihara, Ichihiro Hasegawa, Dai Matsuka

We went with long-time friends Terry Ku and Dennis Cheng.  Dinner at Buca de Beppo as usual.

9th Grade, Ballet, Dance, Dance Performance, PBA, PBA 2014-2015

The Nutcracker Ballet 2014

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Pacific Ballet Academy’s 24th Annual Nutcracker Ballet

September 6, 2014: Auditions

September 16, 2014: Parent’s Meeting

November 28 – 30, 2014: Performance Dates

This will be Amelia’s 6th Nutcracker performance for the Pacific Ballet Academy.  She was allowed to audition for both Level VI and Level VII roles.  These are her roles:  Lead Mouse, Spanish Corps, Chinese Demi-soloist.

 

PBA_Nutcracker_2014

 

Amelia is thrilled to announce that she will be dancing these roles in the Nutcracker:

  • Mouse Leader (Level VI)
  • Spanish Corps (Level VII)
  • Chinese Demi-soloist (Level VI)

Nice!

Ballet, Dance, Dance Performance, PBA, PBA 2013-2014

PBA Student Showcase 2014

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March 15 & 16, 2014

“The Student Showcase is our annual school production, in which students perform a dance for each of their classes. It is our policy to use minimal class time for rehearsals, since we are a training school. We incorporate steps that must be learned as a part of the students’ curriculum into combinations, which are then joined together to create dances for the performances. In the past we have had nearly 100 percent participation in the Student Showcase by our students in Level I classes and above.”  ~from the PBA website

Spring Showcase 2014
Spring Showcase 2014

Amelia will do a solo dance called “Bliss” choreographed by Ms. Brianne.  What an honor to be chosen for this lead role among the Level VI dancers.  Besides “Bliss”, she will have 5 other dances to do for the Student Showcase.

Red Dawn Flight
Red Dawn – Flight

Red Dawn - Reflection
Red Dawn – Reflection

This is from a rehearsal photo in costume for “Red Dawn”. “Red Dawn” is choregraphed by Miss Rima.

Amelia is also becoming well-known at her school for her natural ability to mentor younger dancers.  Her ability to organize and communicate with the little ones is becoming an asset to the instructors at Pacific Ballet Academy.

 

Saturday, March 15

12:00 PM – Programs A & B

5:00 PM – Programs A & G

Sunday, March 16

12:00 PM – Programs B & C

5:00 PM – Programs C & G

 

Program A

  • Bliss – Solo
  • Red Dawn – Fan Girl

Program B

  • “A” – You’re Adorable – Leader
  • Allegretto – Demi-Solo

Program C

  • Ballerina Polka – Leader
  • Cheers – Leader

Program G

  • Garland Waltz – Garland Girl
  • Mazurka – Corps de Ballet

DVD Orders:

http://playbackmemories.com/store

 

 

Alvin Ailey, Ballet, Dance, Summer Intensive

Ailey School Summer Intensive 2014 Audition

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ACCEPTED AND ATTENDING!

 

School:  The Ailey School, NYC

Audition Location: San Francisco Ballet School

Audition Date: January 27, 2014 @ 12:00 – 2:00 PM

The 5 week summer intensive will be held in New York City in the summer of 2014.  So if Amelia gets in we’ll need to figure out some housing for her in Manhattan.  Amelia has to be in the Junior Division.

Junior Division Summer Intensive Program

June 30, 2014 to August 1, 2014

“The Junior Division Summer Intensive is a 5-week training program for students ages 11-15 with a minimum of three consecutive years of ballet training. The program provides an opportunity for intermediate and advanced dance students to immerse themselves in an intensive training session. Students take daily ballet classes supplemented by additional modern and jazz classes.  Advanced girls may also take pointe; advanced boys may take boys’ ballet.  Students are provided the opportunity to learn repertory in special workshops, which culminate in the Summer Sizzler performances. All students are evaluated for placement by the Junior Division Directors.  During the first week of classes, the program Directors and instructors monitor and evaluate classes to determine that each student is placed in the correct level for his or her ability. Continue reading Ailey School Summer Intensive 2014 Audition →